74381_CTP_074-097_stubbie.qxdQC Preflight Point 12/29/05 2:11 PM Page 74 st 11 11 1 74 Job no : 74381-2 Title : TSJ Vol 15#2 Client : (AAAAA)_XXXX p74 Scn : #200 Size : 9”(w)11”(h)mm Co : M11 C7 (Coagl) Dept : DTP D/O : 30.12.05 (Job no:74381C1 D/O :29.12.05 Co: CM6) 74381_CTP_074-097_stubbie.qxd 12/29/05 2:11 PM Page 75 QC Preflight Point st 1 11 11 compiled by Esteban Bojorquez, Kirk Putnam, Matt Miller, and Alex Kopps 1967, California. The seeds of rebellion were planted. A foot-and-a-half of nose broke off the longboard I was accustomed to riding. Enlightenment can strike at any moment. That evening I reshaped the nose at the point of the break—a true hatchet job. It stoked a fire that’s now burned for almost 40 years. Within a wave lie many natural forces. My quest? To find every inch of speed within a few feet of glide. The journey has taken me far from the mainstream. I became an out- cast, my boards interpreted as oddities, my rides freaks 75 of nature. I lived in an abandoned chicken coop with a 20-board quiver and my girlfriend Karen. No heat, no hot water. It was good friends and the freedom to surf at a moment’s notice. Life was good and life was hard. I wasn’t the only one. Ideas were shared and experiences exchanged. We shot miles of footage, analyzing the film frame by frame. The equipment became more specialized, demanding perfect conditions and total physical and men- tal commitment. Life revolved around a few seconds of glide… —Esteban Bojorquez aka Steve Krajewski aka Dirt BOJORQUEZ COLLECTION p75 74381-2_CTP_074-097_stubbie.qxdQC Preflight Point 1/9/06 8:30 PM Page 76 nd 11 11 2 BOJORQUEZ COLLECTION Job no : 74381-2 Title : TSJ Vol 15#2 Client : (AAAAA)_XXXX p76 Scn : #200 Size : 9”(w)11”(h)mm Co : M11 C7 (Coagl) Dept : DTP D/O : 30.12.05 (Job no: 74381C3 D/O : 11.01.06 Co: CM3) 74381-2_CTP_074-097_stubbie.qxd 1/11/06 9:38 AM Page 77 QC Preflight Point nd 2 11 11 The displacement hull Stubbie is a board designed and Ritchie on their Wilderness hulls, and having gone around the parameters of speed, feeling, and flex. They back to riding one of Greg’s boards (a de-tuned “Dirt” are generally round, full-outlined boards seven to eight machine) when I was home for summer made me want to KAREN BOJORQUEZ feet in length, 21" to 23" wide, thickness around 3", with have Greg shape a board that I thought would be more nose widths ranging from 17" to 19", tails 14" to 16", and suited to the full range of Santa Cruz conditions—Middle wide points located anywhere from 6" to 10" ahead of Peak and the Slot at the Lane, minus tide at Mitchell’s center, and a flex fin from 8.5" to 9.5" in depth, with a and Natural Bridges, winter peaks at Moss Landing, base of 5" to 6" long. Hulls utilize a combination of S- dredging dumpers at a reef up from Scott’s, summer decks, straight rocker, and neutral rails. swells at the reef. The first version was 7'2" with a pulled The concept is to drop in, hit the bottom of the tail, a fair amount of vee and the wide point just ahead of wave, bank over on the rail, which in conjunction with the center—still a hull with round rails and a thin tail. This flex fin, blasts the board out and up, slingshot-like into the thing worked in a wide variety of conditions. My highlight highline of the wave where the power is. Once there, the day was my 20th birthday when I caught Stockton hull and fin work together to keep the rider locked into that Avenue head high with two other people out. The second power zone. If balanced right, you can stay in that high- version was 7'4", which I still have, where everything got line position, trimming as fast as the wave is for as long refined with a smooth transition between hull and flats— as the wave is. This requires minimal rider input—the slight vee, low rails through the back half of the board. A board does all the work. The hull rails enable the board to version of a Stubbie that performed in nearly every kind become part of the wave. Flat bottom boards ride on top of wave Santa Cruz offered. It allowed me to aim for of the wave face—hulls penetrate it and become part of it. Dave Sutton’s style, while still getting the feeling of laying The hull utilizes the wave energy to spring it forward, the board over and driving on the rail through the turn. matching the speed of the wave without having to break trim, butt wiggle, or do the Huntington Hop. Just lock-in -Mike Brown and hang on my friend. Let it fly through the gears and feel the wave…subtle adjustments made with toe pres- Displacement hulls, to the cognoscenti, are nothing but sure or ankle flick. Of course, if one needs to drop down bulbous, sensuous, convex curves, alluringly feminine in and blast past a section or do a cutback, go ahead and let spite of lacking the hourglass physique–the Peter Paul it fly. Minimal effort earns the greatest return. Reubens’ women of the surfboard world, aimed not at herding water in a roll-’em roll-’em roll-’em rawhide fash- -Matt Miller ion, but rather, seducing and steering the water around its invasive and disturbing shape, tricking the water into not The regulars at Four Mile were a pretty mellow only wanting, but even needing the board to fulfill its own group, but everyone got their share of waves. Bob was sinuous-curving destiny before perishing—spawning good friends with Ritchie West who used to come up salmon like on the sand. 77 every so often. Ritchie was a phenomenal surfer, but he Hulls Need Water. Water Loves Hulls. was also incredibly aggressive out in the water, making it tough to get excited about his surfing. Having watched Bob -Brian Hilbers DEVON HOWARD DEVON HOWARD THOMAS CAMPBELL p77 74381-2_CTP_074-097_stubbie.qxdQC Preflight Point 1/9/06 8:32 PM Page 78 nd 11 11 2 The incessant waves peeled mechanically from start to fin- ish. The thing that struck me the most about the place was the way the waves ended. Not a closeout or mush burger, LLOYD DAVID they just wrapped and bent into the inside bowl and gently faded onto the shallows. It was a surreal moment staring off the bow of the boat while I dropped anchor and and studied the line-up. Andy was the first in the line-up, out the back I watched him stroke into a six-foot, blue-green wall, fade down the face and crank a ten-yard bottom turn—arms raised Nat Young fashion, while taking two steps forward up to the highline. His speed and the wave’s speed was incredible, as fast as he was going in perfect trim, he seemed to only stay just ahead of the curl. Putnam was next: he found his position, paddled, and took off fading into a backside bottom turn, crouched and lightly grabbed his rail, pulling his board up into the tension of the pocket and drove it to the inside. For Krajewski, this was a study of when all things come together. Cojo with perfect conditions, 30 some years of surfing and a surfboard designed with these types of waves in mind; it is like Miles Davis playing with John Coltrane during the Kind of Blue sessions—just a sight to behold. Krajewski was taking off so deep up toward Cockroaches, his waves seemed unmakeable at times. These big sets would come in from out the back and he would paddle farther and farther over, taking off over the ledge and just driving the longest bottom turns I had ever seen. Out of the turns, he would project himself down the line so fast that it seemed only a minimum amount of his rail was engaged on the face. Crouched two feet from the nose in perfect trim, cutting water like a Chinese high- diver, Krajewski would drive these rocket ships into the 78 inside bowl. On the inside with speed to burn, Krajewski would lay over cutbacks, burying eight feet of rail into a full roundhouse. Do you know how hard it is to bury eight feet of rail? Try it! Also, Krajewski can proudly boast he has never worn a leash—not many people can say that. -Wesley Davis D. HUMP D. Job no : 74381-2 Title : TSJ Vol 15#2 Client : (AAAAA)_XXXX p78 Scn : #200 Size : 9”(w)11”(h)mm Co : M11 C7 (Coagl) Dept : DTP D/O : 30.12.05 (Job no: 74381C3 D/O : 11.01.06 Co: CM3) 74381_CTP_074-097_stubbie.qxd 12/29/05 3:25 PM Page 79 QC Preflight Point st 1 11 11 CAMPBELL BOJORQUEZ COLLECTION p79 74381-2_CTP_074-097_stubbie.qxdQC Preflight Point 12/30/05 11:24 AM Page 80 st 11 11 1 Be careful, you might get addicted…and if you do, it will mess with your mind. You, the way you surf, won’t be the same. I’m just warning you!” -Greg Liddle BOJORQUEZ COLLECTION Job no : 74381-2 Title : TSJ Vol 15#2 Client : (AAAAA)_XXXX p80 Scn : #200 Size : 9”(w)11”(h)mm Co : M11 C7 (Coagl) Dept : DTP D/O : 30.12.05 (Job no:74381C1 D/O :29.12.05 Co: CM6) 74381-2_CTP_074-097_stubbie.qxd 12/30/05 11:25 AM Page 81 QC Preflight Point st 1 11 11 BOJORQUEZ COLLECTION BOJORQUEZ COLLECTION CAMPBELL p81 74381-2_CTP_074-097_stubbie.qxdQC Preflight Point 12/31/05 10:12 AM Page 82 st 11 11 1 PHOTOS: BOJORQUEZ COLLECTION “Don’t stand on the tail or you’ll spin out,” was his only warning as I clambered down the cliff with a six-foot some- DARK DARK SHADOW thing disc so wide I could barely get my arms around to grip the rail.